Do You Love Golf?

[Sam Morrow]

I was chatting with another poster and a lurker the other day when the lurker asked an interesting question.


How many GCA posters actually love the game of golf? At first it seems like a potentially silly question but reading the site over the years it strikes me that some posters seems to care much more about the architecture than the game itself


I for one enjoy architecture a great deal but LOVE this wonderful game. I'm curious how you would classify yourselves.

[Michael Moore]

Players readily admit "I'm a golf nut," or "I'm a golf addict."

They get addicted to the joy of hitting good shots.

 - Harvey Penick

[John Kavanaugh]

My wife told me the other day that I play golf because I need friends. I alway thought that I needed friends to play golf.

[Ira Fishman]

My wife tells me that I play golf because I can avoid people even if playing with them.

[Sam Morrow]

Players readily admit "I'm a golf nut," or "I'm a golf addict."

They get addicted to the joy of hitting good shots.

 - Harvey Penick

Few greater pleasures!

[Sam Morrow]

My wife told me the other day that I play golf because I need friends. I alway thought that I needed friends to play golf.

You have plenty of friends.........

[Sam Morrow]

My wife tells me that I play golf because I can avoid people even if playing with them.

I'm the short hitter in my normal group so I understand that.

[Thomas Dai]

An interesting question and one I do ponder.
Overall ‘yes’ is still the answer though and pretty much all aspects of the game too ranging from architecture to technique, to maintenance, to play, to equipment, to the rules, to club/course operations and many, many other aspects in between except maybe these days the elite pro game.
But do I love it as much as I used too? Uncertain tbh.
There are some things that have crept or been allowed to come into the game, some since Covid, some of a longer term nature, that I’m not too keen on or have provided food for thought and reflection. Maybe they are related to changes or developments in society rather than purely developments in golf? Maybe not?
Still when like me you’ve been around the game for six decades and it’s got plenty deep into the bloodstream and brain and is unlikely to leave the question changes a bit. Hell, what else would I do?

Atb

[Matt Schoolfield]

Do You Love Golf?

Yes, desperately.

[John Handley]

I love everything about golf.  I love playing golf, reading about golf, practicing, golf travel but most of all, I love the people I have met through golf.  I am so blessed to have two great golf clubs with the best guys at each one.  When we play together, we all have such a great time and laugh throughout the day. 


My wife will ask how's so and so's wife and kids?  I don't know.  Didn't you just spend 4 hours with him on the golf course?  Yep.  Well what did y'all talk about?  Golf stuff. 

[MCirba]

Oh my God, yes.


At age 66 and a half I'm dreading the inevitable day where I can no longer play but even then I'd like to think I'll hang around somewhere off the 18th green watching the sun set.

[Craig Sweet]

Well ever since Erik said angles don't matter and took away all the magic of design, I love GCA a little less, but I still love golf a lot.

[MKrohn]

I read, watch (Euro Tour), talk about golf and a large percentage of my friends are from golf.


Post getting locked down in Australia over Covid, I realised I didn't actually miss playing golf, I figured this was temporary, the desire to play hasn't returned and I haven't played since September last year.


To the question I would say, yes, I love golf but we are having a break.

[John Kavanaugh]

Do You Love Golf?

Yes, desperately.

That surprises me. I’ve never read the opinions of anyone who appears to dislike where they game is, compared to where they want it to be, as you.

[Joe Zucker]

Obviously this answer is personal and the game means different things to different people, which is wonderful, but to me golf means playing the game.  I'm struck with how many posts on this site are not about playing golf. I know this is an architecture platform and I love it, but if you would be just as happy walking a good course as playing it, we view the game very differently (which is ok!). 


If the only course left in the world was a flat cow pasture, I would still play. I love to challenge myself and work out the personal demons of hitting a ball as best I can.  In a TGL thread a few months ago, I was chided and many though what they were doing was not "golf".  I disagree with this and for me, the inner relationship to swinging the club is the essence of the game.  Even though this challenge is much better and more fun on good courses.  In short yes, I love to play the game in any form that I can.

[Matt Schoolfield]

Do You Love Golf?

Yes, desperately.

That surprises me. I’ve never read the opinions of anyone who appears to dislike where they game is, compared to where they want it to be, as you.

The game is always there. On any weekend afternoon, you can go to any course and find people enjoying the game of golf. That is the game, and that is what I love. It's friends and family spending time together in the form of hitting a ball toward a hole and counting strokes. I love swinging the club, chatting along the way, and the thrill of a short putt that makes or breaks a match. It's a few hours well wasted.

This game is played at your local muni, resort, or exclusive club.

---

My concerns can seem strident, but they are with the culture... Who is allowed to play, and where, and why. Whether being a good neighbor is more important than being photogenic. How much of our resources should we dedicate to recreation, and when that becomes imprudent. Whether we should create equipment to change the game or to preserve it. Generally, what values do the influential members of our community prioritize. I am strident about our culture because I love the game.

And I very much worry that some folks aren't able to understand the difference between the game, itself, and the culture around it.

[Lance Rieber]

The caddies at Royal Dornoch called me a golf “pervert” last summer.  I guess that’s a good thing? It’s hard to put into words how much I love the game.

[JLahrman]

Is it OK to say no? I used to love golf. Now I like it. The architecture is interesting. I like to play when I can, but I don't miss it when I don't.

[Sam Morrow]

The caddies at Royal Dornoch called me a golf “pervert” last summer.  I guess that’s a good thing? It’s hard to put into words how much I love the game.

Please tell us more!

[Ben Sims]

I really liked golf before I started paying attention to golf architecture. Then I began to love the game even more.


I don’t find a love of golf architecture to be mutually exclusive to loving the game itself. And vice versa.

[Matt Wharton]

I have loved the game of golf for many decades. Golf has given me many friends, lasting memories, and a career. I even owe the game for my wife as we met on a golf course in Virginia almost 32 years ago, and we still enjoy traveling and playing together today.


But when you love something so deeply for so long, the relationship will have its ebbs and flows. I know there was a period a few years back when my passion for the game was beginning to wane. Most likely because I'm not as good as I once was and it takes time to learn how to find the enjoyment when your game frustrates you. For me it was a trip to Ireland in 2019 and my first real taste of links golf that helped me overcome what was a stumbling block.


Now I focus on who I play with and where we play versus how I played. Sure, I still enjoy a good round but my score doesn't dictate my enjoyment. My enjoyment comes from the simple fact I get to play the game I love, golf!

[Tommy Williamsen]

Hitting a five iron in the sweet spot is one of life's great joys. Hitting a flop shot over a bunker and watching the ball nestle close to the hole is a thrill non-golfers could never understand. Yup, I love golf. My wife tells me that all my friends are playmates, running partners, Golf partners, or ski partners. She's right. All my closest and dearest friends have been playmates. Golf has helped make that possible.

[Sam Morrow]

Hitting a five iron in the sweet spot is one of life's great joys. Hitting a flop shot over a bunker and watching the ball nestle close to the hole is a thrill non-golfers could never understand. Yup, I love golf. My wife tells me that all my friends are playmates, running partners, Golf partners, or ski partners. She's right. All my closest and dearest friends have been playmates. Golf has helped make that possible.

Tommy,


Despite having never met I knew when I posted this exactly where you fell!

[John Kavanaugh]

Do You Love Golf?

Yes, desperately.

That surprises me. I’ve never read the opinions of anyone who appears to dislike where they game is, compared to where they want it to be, as you.

The game is always there. On any weekend afternoon, you can go to any course and find people enjoying the game of golf. That is the game, and that is what I love. It's friends and family spending time together in the form of hitting a ball toward a hole and counting strokes. I love swinging the club, chatting along the way, and the thrill of a short putt that makes or breaks a match. It's a few hours well wasted.

This game is played at your local muni, resort, or exclusive club.

---

My concerns can seem strident, but they are with the culture... Who is allowed to play, and where, and why. Whether being a good neighbor is more important than being photogenic. How much of our resources should we dedicate to recreation, and when that becomes imprudent. Whether we should create equipment to change the game or to preserve it. Generally, what values do the influential members of our community prioritize. I am strident about our culture because I love the game.

And I very much worry that some folks aren't able to understand the difference between the game, itself, and the culture around it.

You obviously don’t love the game unconditionally. I don’t have the energy or want to change the game anymore than I had to change my Mother. She wasn’t perfect but she was mine. I see golf in much the same light.

[Matt Schoolfield]

You obviously don’t love the game unconditionally. I don’t have the energy or want to change the game anymore than I had to change my Mother. She wasn’t perfect but she was mine. I see golf in much the same light.

John, I'll admit that I'm often exasperated with our interactions, but I'll try and be amenable here.

Do I love the game unconditionally? I'm not sure what this even means. For me to love the game unconditionally, it needs to be able to exist in different conditions, and at what point does the game fundamentally change in character. If the game, for example, had it's own CTE crisis, yes I would probably stop playing (at least according to the rules that were causing this issue). I do think we see this is beginning to crop up with back injuries as the game has moved from more of a finesse game to more of a power game, and I think this will continue as we inevitably offer more advantage to players with more power, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.

I certainly don't love golf culture unconditionally.  I don't know why I would. We are all imperfect people, we ought to strive to be the best people we can be. I think golf culture is no different. This means giving a shit and saying something when you see things that you think aren't right, even if they're not that big a deal.

At the end of the day, I don't even want to participate in any self-congratulatory "who loves it more" contests anyway. It's a game. It's meant to be an intentional waste of time. This is one of the main reasons why I push back against levels of excess I find imprudent. I'm happy to play at the Bruntsfield Links and at the Old Course. As long as I'm playing a match with a someone, and it's good craic, I'll be having the time of my life. For me golf is a vehicle that perfectly extenuates the more important things in life, which for me is the people in it. That's why I love the game.

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